Rotary apparatus and vehicle having air conditioning system including the rotating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A rotary apparatus includes a motor, a plurality of gears, and a sensor configured to detect a rotation angle of one of the plurality of gears. The sensor includes a first connection terminal electrically connecting to the outside, and a base portion. The first connection terminal is disposed at the base portion. A second connection terminal is disposed at the base portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 15/620,099, filed, Jun. 12, 2017, which claims the benefit ofJapanese Patent Application No. 2016-120645, filed Jun. 17, 2016, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a rotary apparatus and a vehiclehaving an air conditioning system including the rotary apparatus.

Background

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-220969 discloses a motoractuator (rotary apparatus) driving a plurality of doors (louvers)provided in an air passage for flowing air of a vehicle air conditioningsystem.

In the motor actuator (rotary apparatus) disclosed in JP UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 2015-220969, a relay terminal isdirectly connected to a motor terminal. As disclosed in FIG. 4, a fixingportion that is configured to fix the relay terminal by clamping isformed in a lower casing constituting a housing. It is considered thatby fixing the relay terminal to the fixing portion, violent vibration ofthe relay terminal due to vibration is suppressed and connection failureat a portion connecting between the motor terminal and the relayterminal is suppressed.

However, the above described configuration has a problem in that in acase where a fine structure for clamping a thin member such as a relayterminal in a housing is formed, a mold and the like for molding thehousing becomes complicated and increases the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is related to providing a rotary apparatus forwhich an increase in the manufacturing cost of the housing issuppressed, and a vehicle having an air conditioning system includingthe rotary apparatus.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, (1) a rotaryapparatus includes a motor, a plurality of gears, and a sensorconfigured to detect a rotation angle of one of the plurality of gears,wherein the sensor includes a first connection terminal electricallyconnecting to the outside, and a base portion, the first connectionterminal is disposed at the base portion, a second connection terminalfor the motor is disposed at the base portion.

(2) In the configuration of (1) above, the motor is a DC motor, and theplurality of gears includes a transmission gear for transmitting therotation of the motor to the one of the plurality of gears.(3) In the configuration of (1) or (2) above, the base portion includesa terminal arrangement portion, wherein the first connection terminaland the second connection terminal are arranged at the terminalarrangement portion.(4) In the configuration of any one of (1) to (3) above, the rotaryapparatus including a flexible wiring board electrically connecting themotor and the second connection terminal, wherein the second connectionterminal includes a connection portion extending in a direction awayfrom the base portion, and the flexible wiring board includes anelectrical connection portion having a hole portion engaged with theconnection portion.(5) In the configuration of (4) above, the connection portion is a bentportion, the bent portion is a part in an end part side of the secondconnection terminal, and the part in the end part side is the bentportion bent in a direction away from the base portion.(6) In the configuration of (4) or (5) above, the flexible wiring boardcomprises: one end surface connected to the connection portion of thesecond connection terminal; other end surface connected to the motor;and an intermediate surface connecting the one end surface to the otherend surface, the intermediate surface have a replicated portion.(7) In the configuration of (6) above, the replicated portion includes afolded structure therein.(8) In the configuration of any one of (1) to (7) above, the sensorincludes: a resistor substrate, a resistor formed at the resistorsubstrate, and electrically connected to the first connection terminal,a rotary body rotatable together with the plurality of gears, aconductive brush provided at the rotary body and contacting theresistor, and a cover portion opposing the rotary body and forming asensor housing together with the base portion.(9) In the configuration of (3) above, the one of the plurality of gearsis an output gear, the output gear and the sensor are lined in adirection substantially orthogonal to a direction of a rotary shaft ofthe motor, and the terminal arrangement portion includes the firstconnection terminal disposed at a position away from the motor and thesecond connection terminal disposed at a position close to the motor.(10) In the configuration of any one of (1) to (9) above, the pluralityof gears include a transmission gear and an output gear, and the rotaryapparatus includes a housing accommodating the motor, the transmissiongear, the output gear, and the sensor.(11) A vehicle has an air conditioning system including the rotaryapparatus having a configuration of any one of (1) to (10) above, and alouver controlled by the rotary apparatus.

The present disclosure can provide a rotary apparatus suppressing anincrease in the cost of manufacturing a housing thereof and can providea vehicle having an air conditioning system including the rotaryapparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotary apparatus of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rotary apparatus of the embodimentof the present disclosure with a first housing of the rotary apparatusbeing removed;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the rotary apparatus of theembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotary apparatus of the embodimentof the present disclosure illustrating a second surface portion side ofa second housing thereof;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a motorterminal of a motor of the embodiment of the present disclosure and asecond connection terminal for the motor provided in a sensor areconnected by a flexible wiring board;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for illustrating an air conditioning systemincluding the rotary apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle including the airconditioning system shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the modes for practicing the disclosure (hereinafterreferred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

It should be noted that throughout the description of the embodiments,the same reference numerals or characters are assigned to the samecomponents.

A hole portion to be engaged is referred to as an engaging hole portion,and a projection to be engaged is referred to as an engaging projection.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotary apparatus 10 of an embodimentof the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rotaryapparatus 10 with a first housing 23 removed. FIG. 3 is an explodedperspective view of the rotary apparatus 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the rotary apparatus 10 includes a housing 20formed by coupling a first housing 23 and a second housing 27. The firsthousing 23 includes a first surface portion 21 as a surface portion anda first sidewall portion 22 provided at an outer peripheral portion ofthe first surface portion 21. The second housing 27 also furtherincludes a second surface portion 25 as a surface portion and a secondsidewall portion 26 provided at an outer peripheral portion of thesecond surface portion 25.

Note that the housing 20 is formed with a resin material such aspolypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and ABS resins.

Note that a direction of a rotary shaft is a longitudinal direction ofthe rotary shaft.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the first housing 23 includes a plurality ofengaging portions 22 b formed integrally with the first sidewall portion22. The engaging portions 22 b are provided at an outer periphery of thefirst sidewall portion 22 and extend toward the second housing 27. Theengaging portions 22 b are provided with engaging holes 22 a,respectively.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the second housing 27 includes aplurality of engaging projections 26 a that are formed integrally withthe second sidewall portion 26. The engaging projections 26 a areprovided at an outer periphery of the second sidewall portion 26. Theengaging projections 26 a are configured to engage with thecorresponding engaging holes 22 a of the engaging portions 22 b of thefirst housing 23.

The first housing 23 is joined with the second housing 27 by engagingthe engaging projections 26 a of the second housing 27 with the engagingholes 22 a of the engaging portions 22 b of the first housing 23,thereby integrating the first housing 23 with the second housing 27. Inthis manner, the housing 20 (see FIG. 1) that is configured toaccommodate various parts illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 is provided.

Note that, in the present embodiment, the first housing 23 includes theengaging portions 22 b having the engaging holes 22 a and the secondhousing 27 includes the engaging projections 26 a, but may be configuredsuch that the second housing 27 includes the engaging portions and thefirst housing 23 includes the engaging projections.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, at an outer periphery of thefirst housing 23, a plurality of attaching portions A, B, C, and D forattaching the rotary apparatus 10 to the air conditioning system areprovided.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, as various parts accommodated in thehousing 20 (see FIG. 1), the rotary apparatus 10 includes a motor 30, aplurality of gears 60 including an output gear 50 mechanically rotatingthe rotary shaft 32 (see FIG. 3) of the motor 30 to the outside, and asensor 70 capable of detecting a rotation angle of the output gear 50.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the second housing 27 includes anopening portion 25 a located at a portion corresponding to the centerside of the output gear 50.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotary apparatus 10 in which thesecond surface portion 25 side of the second housing 27 of the rotaryapparatus 10 is viewable.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the engaging portion 51 of the output gear 50is accessible from outside through an opening portion 25 a provided inthe second surface portion 25 of the second housing 27. For example, adrive shaft, not shown, of a louver of an air conditioning systemprovided in a vehicle such as a car can be engaged with the engagingportion 51 of the output gear 50.

Thus, by rotating the output gear 50, the louver, not shown, provided inan air passage (hereinafter may also be referred to as an air flow path)of the air conditioning system is controlled, and, for example, the airpassage of the air conditioning system is controlled to a predeterminedopening degree.

(Motor)

The motor 30 is a drive device for rotating the output gear 50. In thepresent embodiment, a DC motor is used as the motor 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the motor 30 includes a main body portion 31having a quadrangular prism outer shape with curved corner portions, arotary shaft 32 derived from a first end surface 31 a of the main bodyportion 31, and a pair of motor terminals 33 located on an opposite sideof the first end surface 31 a of the main body portion 31 and providedso as to project outward from a second end surface 31 b facing the firstend surface 31 a.

Note that the rotary shaft 32 is fixed to a rotor housed in the mainbody portion 31 of the motor 30.

(Transmission Gear)

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plurality of gears 60 includes atransmission gear 40. The transmission gear 40 is a gear fortransmitting the rotation of the rotary shaft 32 of the motor 30 to theoutput gear 50 at a predetermined gear ratio. In the present embodiment,three gears (a worm gear 41, a first two-stage gear 42, and a secondtwo-stage gear 43) are used as the transmission gear 40.

More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the transmission gear 40includes the worm gear 41 fixed to the rotary shaft 32 (see FIG. 3) ofthe motor 30, the first two-stage gear 42, and the second two-stage gear43. The first two-stage gear 42 includes a large diameter gear 42 ameshing with the worm gear 41 and a small diameter gear 42 b. The secondtwo-stage gear 43 includes a large diameter gear 43 a meshing with thesmall diameter gear 42 b in the first two-stage gear 42 and a smalldiameter gear 43 b (see FIG. 3) meshing with the output gear 50.

Note that, in the present embodiment, the first two-stage gear 42 andthe second two-stage gear 43 are used so as to transmit the rotation ofthe rotary shaft 32 of the motor 30 to the output gear 50 by adjustingthe gear ratio using the limited space. However, another design may beused. For example, the second two-stage gear 43 may be omitted, andinstead the output gear 50 may be meshed with the small diameter gear 42b of the first two-stage gear 42. Yet another design may be used. Forexample, the first two-stage gear 42 and the second two-stage gear 43may be omitted, and instead meshed with the output gear 50 directly tothe worm gear 41.

(Output Gear)

As described above, the output gear 50 is a gear meshing with a driveshaft, not shown, of a louver of an air conditioning system andoutputting the rotation of the rotary shaft 32 of the motor 30 as adrive force for controlling the drive shaft of the louver.

Note that the present embodiment is not limited to an embodiment inwhich the drive shaft of the louver, not shown, is directly meshed withthe output gear 50, but instead a gear interposed between the rotaryapparatus 10 and the drive shaft of the louver, not shown, may beprovided. In this case, the rotary shaft of the interposed gear mesheswith the output gear 50.

(Sensor)

For example, an air conditioner or the like installed in a car isprovided with a louver.

In order to perform drive control on the louver, not shown, to apredetermined state, it is particularly necessary to control therotation angle of the output gear 50. The sensor 70 is a sensor fordetecting the rotation angle of the output gear 50 to control therotation angle of the output gear 50.

Then, rotation control is performed on the motor 30 based on thedetected rotation angle of the output gear 50, whereby the output gear50 is rotated such that the louver, not shown, comes to a predeterminedstate.

In the present embodiment, a rotary resistive position sensor is used asthe sensor 70. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sensor 70 includesthree first connection terminals 71 for input and output to obtain arotation angle signal corresponding to the rotation angle of the outputgear 50, a resistor substrate 72, a rotary body (not shown), a baseportion 73, and a cover portion 74. The resistor substrate 72 includes aresin substrate and a resistor printed on the resin substrate. Theresistor is electrically connected to the first connection terminals 71.The rotary body (not shown) has a conductive brush (not shown) incontact with the resistor and detects the rotation angle integrally withthe output gear 50. The above components are at the base portion 73. Thecover portion 74 is disposed at a position corresponding to the rotarybody, not shown, and forming a housing (hereinafter referred to as asensor housing) of the sensor together with the base portion 73.

The resin substrate of the resistor substrate 72 is formed with, forexample, an epoxy-based resin.

The resin substrate has a thickness of, for example, about 300 μm toabout 1600 μm.

The resin substrate is harder than the flexible wiring board 80.

In the present embodiment, a resistive position sensor is used. Theresistive position sensor includes a rotary body, not shown. The rotarybody is rotatably provided at the base portion 73. The rotary body isengaged with the rotary shaft of the output gear 50 and rotatesintegrally with the output gear 50. The rotary body includes aconductive brush, not shown, located on the resistor substrate 72 side.The resistor substrate 72 is disposed above the rotary body so as to bespaced apart therefrom. As the rotary body rotates, the conductive brushchanges its position while contacting the resistor of the resistorsubstrate 72. In this manner, the resistance value that is output fromthe sensor changes. A sensor that detects the rotation angle is notlimited to the above sensor, but may be a sensor of a type in which asensor substrate having a conductive portion formed thereon to allow theconductive brush to repeat ON-OFF operation in accordance with therotation of the rotary body, and to detect the rotation angle from thenumber of ON-OFF operations.

As indicated by a dotted line frame, the base portion 73 includes aterminal arrangement portion 75 for arranging terminals. The terminalarrangement portion 75 includes not only the three first connectionterminals 71 for input and output of the sensor 70, but also the twosecond connection terminals 35 for the motor 30.

More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the output gear 50 and thesensor 70 are lined in a direction (X-axis direction) substantiallyorthogonal to a direction (Z-axis direction) of the rotary shaft 32 ofthe motor 30 and substantially parallel to the second surface portion 25of the second housing 27. The base portion 73 of the sensor 70 isarranged so as to place the second connection terminals 35 for the motor30 in the terminal arrangement portion 75. Thus, a part of the terminalarrangement portion 75 is formed so as to project toward the motor 30from the sensor 70.

The terminal arrangement portion 75 is arranged in such a manner thatthe first connection terminals 71 are disposed at a position fartherfrom the motor 30 and the second connection terminals 35 are disposed ata position closer to the motor 30 such that the motor terminals 33 ofthe motor 30 and the second connection terminals 35 for the motor 30 canbe electrically connected at a short distance.

As used herein, electrical connection means to electrically connect thetwo members directly or via other members.

As described above, the base portion 73 of the sensor 70 is configuredsuch that not only the three first connection terminals 71 for input andoutput of the sensor 70 can be fixed to the base portion 73 but also thetwo second connection terminals 35 for the motor 30 can be fixed to thebase portion 73. This configuration eliminates the need for providing afine structure for fixing the two second connection terminals 35 for themotor 30 to the housing 20 (see FIG. 1), and thus the mold and the likefor molding the housing 20 can be prevented from becoming complicated,and the cost of manufacturing the housing 20 can be reduced.

Instead, it is necessary that the terminal arrangement portion 75 of thebase portion 73 of the sensor 70 be configured such that the two secondconnection terminals 35 for the motor 30 can be disposed in the terminalarrangement portion 75.

However, as is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to allow the twosecond connection terminals 35 to be disposed therein, the terminalarrangement portion 75 only needs to be designed to extend toward themotor 30. This design does not complicate the mold and the like formolding the base portion 73, and thus can prevent an increase inmanufacturing cost, and can suppress the manufacturing cost from theviewpoint of total product cost.

In the present embodiment, the first connection terminals 71 and thesecond connection terminals 35 are fixed to the terminal arrangementportion 75 of the base portion 73 of the sensor 70 by a fixing mean suchadhesive or the like. Alternatively, for example, projectionscorresponding to the terminals (the first connection terminals 71 andthe second connection terminals 35) may be formed on the terminalarrangement portion 75, and a hole portion corresponding to each of theprojections may be formed in each of the terminals (the first connectionterminals 71 and the second connection terminals 35).

In this case, the projections of the terminal arrangement portion 75 arepress-fit into the respective hole portions of the terminals (the firstconnection terminals 71 and the second connection terminals 35) to fixthe terminals to the terminal arrangement portion 75.

Even in a case where such fixing is performed, it is only necessary toform the projections on the flat terminal arrangement portion 75, whichdoes not complicate the mold and the like for molding the base portion73 and can prevent an increase in manufacturing cost.

Note that by arranging the second connection terminals 35 in the baseportion 73, the second connection terminals 35 can be prevented fromcontacting the parts accommodated in the housing 20 (see FIG. 1) andreliability can be improved.

Note also that by collectively arranging the three first connectionterminals 71 for input and output of the sensor 70 and the two secondconnection terminals 35 for the motor 30 on the base portion 73, astorage of the terminal can be prevented from becoming complex and thesize of the entire rotary apparatus 10 can be reduced.

The two second connection terminals 35 for the motor 30 are placed andfixed to the terminal arrangement portion 75 of the base portion 73, andelectrically connected to the respective motor terminals 33 of the motor30 by the flexible wiring board 80.

The flexible wiring board 80 has a structure that an adhesive layer isformed on a film (resin substrate) having a thickness of, for example,about 12 μm to 50 μm and a conductor having a thickness of, for example,about 12 μm to about 50 μm is printed or laminated on the adhesivelayer.

The film is formed with an insulating resin material such as polyimideor polyester.

The conductor is formed with a metal material such as copper.

The adhesive layer is formed with an epoxy resin or an acrylic resin.

Even if bent at an angle of 90 degrees or more, the flexible wiringboard 80 can be restored to its original form, a form before thebending.

The electrical connection between the second connection terminals 35 forthe motor 30 and the motor terminals 33 may be a connection using a leadwire.

In the case of using a lead wire, the lead wire itself is thin anddifficult to handle. Thus, as in the present embodiment, it ispreferable to use the flexible wiring board 80, since it is easy tohandle.

Thus, by providing electrical connection between the second connectionterminals 35 for the motor 30 and the motor terminals 33 by use of theflexible wiring board 80, the assembly work of the rotary apparatus 10can be facilitated and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the shape or the like ofthe flexible wiring board 80 is modified to improve the reliability ofthe connection between the second connection terminals 35 for the motor30 and the flexible wiring board 80 as well as the connection betweenthe motor terminals 33 and the flexible wiring board 80. This will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the motorterminals 33 of the motor 30 and the second connection terminals 35 forthe motor 30 provided in the sensor 70 are connected by a flexiblewiring board 80.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, the second connection terminal 35 forthe motor 30 has a connection portion 35 a extending away from the baseportion 73. A part on an end portion of second connection terminal 35side is a bent portion bent in a direction away from the base portion73.

In the illustrated example, the connection portion 35 a extends from thebase portion 73 toward the first surface portion 21 of the housing 20.

The flexible wiring board 80 includes one end surface 82 connected tothe connection portions 35 a of the second connection terminals 35 forthe motor 30. At the one end surface 82, an electrical connectionportion is provided. The electrical connection portion has a holeportions 82 a engaged with the connection portions 35 a.

Accordingly, by engaging the connection portions 35 a with the holeportions 82 a and soldering the connection portions 35 a and the holeportions 82 a, electrical connection can be ensured. Thus, a connectionfailure between the connection portions 35 a and the hole portions 82 acan be suppressed.

In addition, the flexible wiring board 80 includes another end surface81 connected to the motor terminals 33 of the motor 30. The other endsurface 81 also includes an electrical connection portion having holeportions 81 a. The hole portions 81 a engage with the motor terminals33.

Accordingly, by engaging the motor terminals 33 with the hole portions81 a and soldering the motor terminals 33 and the hole portions 81 a,electrical connection can be ensured. Thus, a connection failure betweenthe motor terminals 33 and the hole portions 81 a can be suppressed.

In addition, the flexible wiring board 80 includes an intermediatesurface that connects the one end surface 82 connected to the connectionportions 35 a of the second connection terminals 35 of the motor 30 andthe other end surface 81 connected to the motor terminals 33 of themotor 30. The intermediate surface includes a replicated portion 83arranged such that the one end surface 82 is substantially orthogonal tothe other end surface 81. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the replicatedportion 83 is a replicated portion provided with a folded structure.

Note that the replicated portion 83 may include a curved structuretherein instead of the folded structure.

Note that in the illustrated example, the direction in which the one endsurface 82 extends is crossed with the direction of extension of theother end surface 81 by means of the replicated portion 83.

This replicated portion 83 is interposed between the second connectionterminals 35 and the motor terminals 33 of the motor 30. The angle(bending angle) formed by the one end surface 82 and the other endsurface 81 is changed in response to vibration or the like and exhibitsa spring property.

For example, in a case where the second connection terminals 35 of themotor 30 are linearly connected to the motor terminals 33 of the motor30 by the flexible wiring board 80, vibration of the motor 30 or thesensor 70 due to vibration or the like of the vehicle causes tensilestress or the like to be easily applied to a connection portion betweenthe second connection terminals 35 for the motor 30 and the flexiblewiring board 80 as well as a connection portion between the motorterminals 33 and the flexible wiring board 80. As a result, connectionfailure may occur, or disconnection or the like of the flexible wiringboard 80 may easily occur.

In the present embodiment, with the replicated portion 83 having afolded structure being interposed, the second connection terminals 35 ofthe motor 30 and the motor terminals 33 of the motor 30 are connected bythe flexible wiring board 80.

Under this configuration, the replicated portion 83 having the foldedstructure deforms so as to change the bending angle in response tovibration or the like and exhibit a spring property.

Therefore, with the replicated portion 83, tensile stress or the likecan be prevented from being applied to the connection portion betweenthe second connection terminals 35 for the motor 30 and the flexiblewiring board 80 as well as the connection portion between the motorterminals 33 and the flexible wiring board 80. Thus, connection failurecan be suppressed, and disconnection or the like of the flexible wiringboard 80 itself can be suppressed.

Note that that the replicated portion 83 is formed by bending only oncewith no folded structure. With such a replicated portion, an extrawiring length can be provided and an effect of tensile stress or thelike can be reduced in comparison with the linear wiring method. Thus,the replicated portion 83 may be such a replicated portion. However, asin the present embodiment, it is more preferable to use a replicatedportion having a folded structure, since the replicated portion 83having a folded structure can be made less susceptible to tensilestress.

Therefore, as in the present embodiment, providing the replicatedportion 83 having a folded structure in the flexible wiring board 80,can improve the reliability of the rotary apparatus 10.

The above described rotary apparatus 10 is used, for example, in an airconditioning system for a vehicle such as an automobile. Hereinafter,the following brief description will focus on an example for use in avehicle air conditioning system.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for describing an air conditioning system 100including the rotary apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle including the airconditioning system 100 in FIG. 6.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the air conditioning system 100 includes ablower fan 101, an evaporator 102, a heater 103, and a louver 104, whichare disposed in a front portion FR (see FIG. 7) of the vehicle.

More specifically, the blower fan 101 is disposed on a side of a suctionport 100 a of the air conditioning system 100. The evaporator 102 forcooling the air sent out from the blower fan 101 is disposed on thedownstream side in the air flow direction.

Further, the heater 103 is disposed closer to the downstream side in theair flow direction than the evaporator 102 and the louver 104 isinterposed between the evaporator 102 and the heater 103. The louver 104controls the amount of air flowing from the evaporator 102 to the heater103 so as to adjust the air to an appropriate temperature.

Then, the air adjusted to an appropriate temperature passes through aduct or the like and is supplied into the vehicle from an air outletprovided in the vehicle. In the above described air conditioning system100, for example, a rotary shaft 104 a of the louver 104 is connected toan engaging portion 51 (see FIG. 4) of the output gear 50 of the abovedescribed rotary apparatus 10.

As described above, the rotary apparatus 10 controls the rotation of thelouver 104 to a predetermined state (See double arrow in FIG. 6).

Note that the above described configuration is just an example of therotary apparatus 10 in the air conditioning system 100. For example, theair conditioning system 100 may switch the air flow path (duct route)between a path for circulating air within the vehicle and a path forintroducing air into the vehicle from the outside, in which case thelouver is provided in the switching portion.

Therefore, the rotary apparatus 10 may also be used for controlling thelouver provided in the switching portion in a suitable manner.

Hereinbefore, the present disclosure has been described with referenceto the embodiments. However, the present disclosure is not limited tothe embodiments.

The above embodiments have described that the sensor 70 is disposed soas to detect the rotation angle of the output gear 50, but the detectionof the rotation angle is not limited to the detection of the output gear50.

For example, the relationship between the rotation angle of one of aplurality of transmission gears 40 and the drive state of a louver, notshown, is determined. Then, by detecting the rotation angle of thetransmission gear by the sensor 70, drive control on the louver, notshown, can be actuated by performing rotation control on the motor 30based on such a rotation angle.

Accordingly, the sensor 70 for detecting the rotation angle may be asensor that is configured to detect the rotation angle of thetransmission gear 40.

In addition, in the above embodiments, a rotary resistive positionsensor is used as the sensor 70, but the sensor 70 is not limited to therotary resistive position sensor and may be a non-contact rotaryposition sensor.

Note that the resistive position sensor has a structure in which theconductive brush physically contacts the resistor firmly and is lesssusceptible to detection failure or the like due to vehicle vibration,and thus the rotary resistive position sensor is suitable for the sensor70.

In the above embodiment, the rotation angle of the output gear 50 isdetected by the sensor. However, it is not limited thereto, and therotation angle of another gear may be detected by the sensor instead ofthe rotation angle of the output gear 50 as long as the rotation angleof the output gear 50 can be controlled.

In addition, in the above embodiment, one end of the second connectionterminal 35 for the motor 30 is a bent portion, but the bent portion maybe interposed between a part of the second connection terminal 35 facingthe base portion 73 and the connection portion 35 a.

In this case, the connection portion 35 a serves as an end portion ofthe second connection terminal 35.

In addition, the above embodiments have described that the intermediatesurface includes the replicated portion 83 located so that the one endsurface 82 is substantially orthogonal to the other end surface 81, butwithout being limited to this, the intermediate surface may include thereplicated portion 83 located so that the direction in which the one endsurface 82 extends is crossed with the direction of extension of theother end surface 81.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the rotary apparatus 10 isinstalled in an air conditioner for a vehicle such as a car, but therotary apparatus 10 is not limited to the use in an air conditioner fora vehicle and may be suitably used, for example, in a vehicle such as anairplane.

Thus, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Suchvarious modifications made within the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure are also included in the technical scope of the presentdisclosure. This is apparent to those skilled in the art from the scopeof claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rotary apparatus comprising: a housingincluding a first housing and a second housing; and a motor including amotor terminal; a plurality of gears; and a sensor, wherein the sensoris arranged at the second housing, the sensor includes a base portionand a first connection terminal and a second connection terminal,wherein a resistor is arranged at the base portion, the first connectionterminal electrically connects with the resistor and outside, the secondconnection terminal electrically connects with the motor terminal andoutside, the first connection terminal and the second connectionterminal are arranged at a face of the base portion on the first housingside, the motor terminal is arranged at the second housing side withrespect to the base portion, the second connection terminal is arrangedat the base portion on the motor side with respect to the firstconnection terminal, a connection portion of the second connectionterminal electrically connects to the motor terminal, the connectionportion of the second connection terminal is arranged at a face of thebase portion on the first housing side.
 2. The rotary apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the connection portion of the secondconnection terminal includes a bent portion bent toward the firsthousing.
 3. The rotary apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thesensor includes a sensor housing, the sensor housing includes a coverportion and the base portion.
 4. The rotary apparatus according to claim3, wherein the sensor includes: a resistor substrate; the resistor beingformed at the resistor substrate and electrically connected to the firstconnection terminal; a rotary body rotatable together with one of theplurality of gears; a conductive brush contacting the resistor andarranged at the rotary body; and the cover portion opposing the rotarybody and forming the sensor housing together with the base portion. 5.The rotary apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality ofgears includes an output gear; and the output gear and the sensor arelined in a direction substantially orthogonal to a direction of a rotaryshaft of the motor.
 6. A vehicle comprising: an air conditioning systemincluding: the rotary apparatus according to claim 1; and a louvercontrolled by the rotary apparatus.